When the Sporting News selected the best player in the decade since World War II ended, “The Bible of Baseball” declared that player to be Stan Musial. From 1946 to 1956 “Stan the Man” was a model of absolute professionalism and sportsmanship. An All-Star every year, Musial was voted the National League’s Most Valuable Player twice, won the batting championship five times, led in doubles six and triples five. In 1956, the year he was voted “Player of the Decade”, Musial shattered the MLB record for career extra-base hits and went on to league the National League with 105 RBI.

      In a nod to not only Stan’s worth as a player but also his value as the very face of the Cardinals franchise, team owner Gussie Busch declared that Musial was absolutely not available for any trade, no matter who the Cards were offered in return. This stunning Cardinals home flannel was worn by Stan the Man during that 1956 season, and while any Musial gamer is something to cherish, this one is quite different than any other one you may encounter. Just for 1956, the Cardinals made a radical change from the traditional “birds on a bat” jersey and tried a more modern “Cardinals” in large red and navy script. The cardinals didn’t disappear entirely - one migrated to the left sleeve where he was depicted in a fierce batting stance. Though very attractive, the design was a one-season only experiment and that makes dating this jersey to 1956 easy.

      The new script “Cardinals" arches across the chest in red on navy felt. Rawlings “Hall of Fame” label is sewn in the lower left front tail with size "44" tagging affixed. "Musial 56" is chain stitched below in red. Washing instruction tagging is sewn inside the front tail with "SET 1 1956" flag tag affixed. The left sleeve features new batting Cardinal patch. Photos of Stan the Man, taken in 1956, show him wearing the same “set in” style of sleeve and the 4 1/2” sleeve length as this offered jersey. The back has Musial’s number “6” in red on navy felt. As is too common with vintage flannels, many of those that survived are found with restored lettering and numbers - not so with this beauty. A thorough evaluation by uniform experts at MEARS has determined that everything from the “Cardinals” script on the chest to Musial’s famous number “6” on the back are original to this jersey. The flannel exhibits moderate game use. The jersey is lightly spot stained on the left front chest area. To put this one-year only jersey over the top, Stan Musial has signed the lower right front tail. This unique jersey style worn and signed by the greatest player in Cardinals history comes with a letter of authenticity from MEARS (314992), who have awarded this incredible flannel their perfect grade of A10 and a LOA from PSA/DNA (AA07831) for his signature.

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